5 Years Later
by kahlanvsxena
Summary: It's been 5 years after "The Golden Lily" and a lot of things have changed. Dhampir no longer guard Moroi, but hunt Strigoi instead. Dimitri and Rose set out on another adventure to kill the undead, but this time all their friends are coming along.
1. Prologue

Chapter One

My name is Rose Hathaway. I'm sure you remember me, but it's been a while. Five years to be exact, and there has been a lot of changes. Queen Lissa—my best friend—has made it her life goal to make changes to our world, and after only five years things certainly are different. I'm no longer her guardian, for one. Actually, there aren't many guardian at all; dhampir are now purely Strigoi hunters along with a lot of Moroi who are willing to risk their lives—Christian, Lissa's boyfriend, of course being one of them.

Another thing that is really different is relationship statuses. After Sonya and Mikhail's wedding—which the queen fully supported—people started realizing that it didn't matter who got together: Moroi and dhampirs, dhampirs and dhampirs, whatever. No one carried. Adrian was still pushing for people to except Moroi getting together with Alchemist, but it wasn't going very well.

Eddie is now dating Jill—they came back from Palm Springs a view years ago when things became a little safer for her. He's not technology on duty, but he watches her like a hawk anyways. Adrian is still with Sydney, but she is no longer part of the Alchemists which made their relationship a lot easier. Angeline doesn't run with our circle much anymore. She found herself a boyfriend in Palm Springs but we see her every now and them. Mia on the other hand is around more than ever, and goes out with us to hunt more than Christian does.

As for Dimitri and me we had our own place a few miles away from Court. Don't ask me how, but that crazy Avery ended up getting a lot of things right when she created that word in my head. Nobody cared if we were together and I was close to Lissa. Almost every night we went out and hunted Strigoi, sometimes with Eddie, sometimes with my Moroi friends. It was life full of action and I loved it.


	2. Reminisce

Chapter Two

I held the picture tight in my hands. Dimitri had his arms around me and we were both smiling like crazy. It was taking in Saint Petersburg a couple of years ago when we went to Russia to visit his family. We looked so happy, and I missed them so much, even his grandmother. It was a different world now, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

"Still not dressed? Rose, they're gonna be here any minute," Dimitri said with a smile that still made my heart tighten. His dark hair was damp and he was ready for the day which was more than I could say. I was still in my pajama pants and blank tank top. Lissa and Christian were coming over for brunch, but I was feeling nostalgic. Dimitri wrapped his arms around my waist and looked over my shoulder at the picture I held. "I miss them, too." He always knew what I was thinking. Some things never changed.

"We really need to go back something. You know, we still haven't met Viktoria's baby," I replied. He wrapped a strand of my hair around a finger and I was pretty sure he wasn't think about his family. We had done a lot of _other_ things in Russia, too.

"We could probably go back anytime you wanted to. Things here have settled a lot since then. Lissa can't live without you for a couple of days and I bet Eddie wouldn't mind the break either." We had to practically drag Eddie to work ever since he and Jill made it offical. They were always together, and he hated leaving her. Lissa on the other hand was a person I saw almost every day, either here or at Court. We both had our own lives now, especially since I wasn't her guardian anymore, but no matter how busy our lives had become we always had time for each other.

"I'll talk to her about it." I turned around in his arms and laced my fingers behind his neck. He slowly brough his lips down to mine. We kissed for a while, but reality soon nagged at me to break away. "I'm gonna go get dressed, wonna come?"

"I don't think that would be very nice to our guests. They will be here soon." His lips said no, but his eyes said yes. I walked away from him without responding and went to our bedroom.


	3. Lissa's News

Chapter Three

Lissa and Christian arrived just as I joined Dimitri in the kitchen. To this day I still tried and failed to get inside Lissa's head. It was a nearly impossible habit to break, but I had gotten really good at reading her over the years. Which is why the second she opened the door I knew she had something to tell me, something she wanted to wait for the right time to say. It always bothered me when she did this because being as protective as I was I always jumped to the worst possible conclusion. But I let her keep her secret until she was ready to tell me.

Lissa gave me a quick hug like she did every time we saw each other. I think this small separation was harder on her than it was on me. We sat down at the table—Dimitri was the cook between the two of us—and waited for the delicious Russia bread thing Dimitri made so well. Lissa caught us up on all the Court gossip that continued to circle around as bad as it did at St. Vlad's. Of course the biggest gossip was still that Adrian was engaged to Sydney. I admired him for going for what he wanted, but it still shocked me that she had said yes.

When Dimitri was done cooking he joined us at the table, and we all dug in. I was still waiting for Lissa to fuss up, but Christian was oblivious to his girlfriend's anxious feelings—either oblivious or he already knew. "So, how was hunting a few nights back?"

"We found a nest of seven of them. Eddie didn't make it out so well," I replied.

"Is he alright?" Lissa asked worriedly.

"He's fine, Liss. Jill dragged him over to Adrian almost immediately." Jill and Adrian always stay pretty close to each other because their bondmates. "But we still decided to give him a couple of days off before we went out again."

"What about you, Christian?" Dimitri asked. "Didn't you and Mia go out a couple of nights ago?"

"Yeah, but we only found two all night. It was boring." They're magic had gotten so strong that sometimes they didn't even go out with dhampirs. Lissa smacked him on the arm.

"Don't say that, every time you go out it gives me a heart attack." He smiled apologically and wrapped his fingers around hers. Dimitri caught my eye and we shared a knowing smile. We sat in silence for a couple of minutes.

Finally, Lissa spoke, "We have some news, and we want you to be the first to know." That sounded good, maybe I was worrying for nothing. "I'm pregnant," she said uncertainly. I jumped up with a squeal and gave her a hug.

"That's amazing, Liss! Congratulations!" Dimitri congratulated Christian and shook his hand. This was great news but some part of me was a little jealous. This was everything Dimitri wanted and I couldn't give it to him. Lissa reached into her pocket and pulled out a diamond ring.

"We're engaged," she said when she put it on her finger. Another around of congratulations were giving, but my entire heart wasn't in it. Don't get me wrong, I was happy for them, but it didn't make it any easier. Things were better for people like Dimitri and me now but somethings couldn't change.

Lissa and Christian stayed most of the day talking and celebrating with us. It was great but I was mentally exhausted by the time they left. "I'm going to go to bed," I said after the door shut. Dimitri grabbed my hand and pulled me to him before I could take two steps.

"Roza, is everything okay?" I nodded, kissed him, and went to our bedroom.


	4. Wandering Thoughts

Chapter 4

I wake in the middle of the night from a nightmare. Well, it wasn't exactly a nightmare, more like a good dream that would never come true. Reality could be it's own nightmare sometimes. I walked down stairs trying not to wake Dimitri in my restlessness.

I really needed to get out here, out of my head. I needed to fight and kill without ever thinking of the consequences, but Dimitri had made me promise a couple of years ago to never go hunting without telling him first. He was slightly overprotective after all we'd been though.

Just as I was about to write a note and head out anyways Dimitri walked into the room. He sat on the couch beside me and wrapped his arms around my stomach. "Tell me," he whispered pressing his lips to my ear.

"Do you wish that we could have a baby, too?" I asked in a small voice. It was something that always hung between us, but we had never actually talked about it.

"Sometimes, but Rose, your only twenty-three we don't have to have this conversation now." He replied obviously as uncomfortable as me, but he hid it well.

"Your thirty and I know you've been ready for kids for a while. There are other ways for us to have a family. Just because the child wouldn't be biologically yours doesn't mean you'd be any less of a father." It was so nice to finally have those words between us. I'd been wanting to tell him for so long that if I did have a child he would be the father in every sense of the word that matter.

"It would be an honor to raise a child with you, but only when your ready. I won't rush you into anything." Suddenly, I felt a lot better. As long as he knew that I wanted him to be in my life forever we could deal with the rest later.

"I'll think about it." And that was the truth. I hadn't completely ruled out having a child right now. But that thought kind of out pushed away when Dimitri started kissing me and carried me to the bedroom. We could talk about this later.


	5. Prepare

Chapter** 5**

When I woke that morning I was more than ready for a fight. My body ached for and I could tell that Dimitri was getting restless as well. I called up Eddie that morning to see if he was ready to go out again tonight.

"Hello?" he said in a pant.

"You okay, Eddie?" I asked, but when Jill answered from a distance saying something about how he couldn't talk right now I got my answer.

"Jill, stop it," he said to her before turning back to me. "Hey, Rose, what's up?"

"Apparently, you two are no longer taking it slow," I answered with a laugh. He told us he was trying to keep her virtue in tacked until he knew the relationship was going some where. What a laugh. "I want to go out tonight, you game?" He told Jill to stop again before answering and I couldn't help but roll my eyes at them. Two cats in heat, and there was no way I would be able to stand being near them for a long time.

"Sure, I'm feeling much better."

"Dimitri and I found a lead to a pretty big group, so when you get done there call up Christian and Mia. We should probably have Lissa and Adrian here just in case to. Tell everyone to meet at my house." He made a sound no third person by-stander should ever have to hear and I was pretty positive he hadn't hurt a word I had just said. "Eddie, this is serious, people could get hurt!" I yelled.

"I am being serious. I'll get everything ready and we'll meet at your house around eleven, okay?"

"Fine." I hung up after that, afraid I would hear anything else that would scar me for life.

The information we got had come from a very reliable source and if he was right we were walking into a cave with at least a dozen Strigoi. If Eddie wasn't being serious and focused we were all dead. Adrenaline was already pumping through my veins at the idea of such a fight, and damn was I ready. In anticipation, Dimitri and I which between sparing and other physical activities to keep us busy.

Christian and Lissa were the first to arrive, and it was obvious that the stress was already taking it's tole on her. I tried my best at soothing her, but didn't do much good. I even went as far as to insist that Christian stay with her, but didn't go me any good either. They were both just too stubborn.

Adrian arrived with Sydney next. It had been a while since I had seen them and gave them both a hug—Adrian and I had long since gotten over the awkwardness of our break-up and Dimitri really wasn't the jealous type. Sydney showed me her engagement ring with a huge smile before going to the kitchen to make some coffee—like I said some things never changed.

When we were all there Eddie, Christian, Mia, Dimitri and I came up with a quick plan of entry—we were use to working together, and by that I mean they let Dimitri and I take over. We told them what to do before we got in the car and headed towards another blood bath.


	6. Liars?

Chapter 6

The cave had one entrance, which meant only one exit—something none of us were very pleased about. Being on the vampire schedule meant you were fine as long as you were outside. One exit meant harder to get to the light.

We parked a few miles away but close enough that the Moroi wouldn't be in the sun very long. We all walked in silence trying to keep pace with our less or more active counterparts. The plan was that Dimitri and I would go in first followed by Christian and Mia, and Eddie would take up the rear. Dimitri caught my eye and in the uncanny way of ours we were off. We had roughly five seconds of surprise time before the whole _pack_ would be on us. I staked the first one before he could even put his eyes back into his head. Another man twice my size jumped on me trying to get his hands around my neck. My legs were trapped under him but my stake was inches from his heart, if only I could get enough movement to get it into his heart.

Then he burst into flames.

Thank you, Christian, I thought as I got my opening. The stake pierced his heart and he made a shrieking sounds as the light faded from his eyes. I jumped back to my feet and turned to the next threat. A man that use to be dhampir and was roughly Dimitri's height flanked me on one side and a woman that had been human was on the other. Behind them were half a dozen others closing in. My informant was wrong, there was a hell of a lot more than twelve here. We were in trouble.

"Retreat!" I heard Dimitri yell when he realized the same thing I had. I went for the man first striking out with my stake hand. He grabbed me and slammed me against the wall of the cave. My head hit hard and lights danced in front of my eyes. A scream distracted us both but I had just enough time to duck away from him. Fingers snaked around my ankle and a loud cracking sound echoed around the cave. I bit my lip and pushed the pain of my broken ankle to the farthest place in my mind. I landed stomach first and kicked up at him with my other leg. Anger flashed in his eyes as he jerked me to my feet, my fingers still laced around the stake. I sliced the point over his chest but wasn't in the right position to get his heart.

His grasp lessened on my shoulders and I collapsed to the floor unable to stand on my ankle. Dimitri yanked his stake from the Strigoi's back and threw my over his shoulder. He had to fight off a couple of others on the way out, but I couldn't pay much attention to his movements when all I saw was his back. All I can say for certain is that we got outside and that the sun felt great. Dimitri set me down and said something to Mia about helping me to the car. I looked around and saw both Christian and Eddie lying motionless on the floor. I couldn't tell if they were breathing.

"Help Dimitri. I can get to the car myself," I ordered Mia. I would crawl if I had to.

"Rose—"

"Just do it, Mia!" I couldn't believe I had gotten us into this mess. This was my fault. I used a near by tree and used it to get to my feet. Eddie was awake and on his feet as he heavily leaned on Mia. Dimitri had Christian in his arms and was running to the car. The rest of us headed in that direction as well.

Eddie passed out again when we were in the car. A Strigoi had practically ripped out his throat and he was losing a lot of blood. I still didn't know Christian's exact injuries only that he hadn't woken up yet and that he was alive. Mia was bleeding pretty bad but it didn't look like she had any serious damage done. My god of a boyfriend had a lot of scraps and bruises and possibly a broken hand but was otherwise okay. He was also driving thirty miles over the speed limit which probably should have bugged me with only one had on the steering wheel but it didn't.

The second we arrived those of us conscious yelled for the spirit users. Lissa and Adrian came running out and instantly started healing. We helped get Eddie and Christian into room in our house and sat in the kitchen while the miracle workers did what they do best.

I couldn't sit still, even with my broken ankle I couldn't help pacing. Sydney was bandaging up Mia's worst injuries and trying to calm down a distraught Jill in the living. Dimitri sat at the table beside me listening to me rant. "That son of a bitch gave me false information! We could have been killed! There was twice as many as he said there were. I trusted Thomas!" I was yelling at this point even though there was a voice in my head saying that he could have just been mistaken. If it was it was a mistake that could have cost all of us our lives. Thomas was a man who graduated two years after me from a school somewhere in Asia. He came to Court afterward and had ended up joining our little group. At least until he became enraged about his mother's death who was posted in Vegas. He had moved there to find his mother's killer and sometimes found information that was useful to us. If he did he would e-mail it to me and until now he had never been wrong.

"Rose, sit down before you pass out. Your hurt, too," he said the exhaustion only showing in his eyes. "Someone must have given him bad information as well."

"He's never been wrong before! I can't except that! Something's wrong, Dimitri, I can feel it."


	7. Suspicions

Chapter 7

Lissa and Adrian came out a little while later looking completely exhausted. I still couldn't sat down no matter how much my foot protested, I was that mad. Lissa sat down at the table and buried her head in her palms. "How are they, Liss?" I asked slowly making my way over to her.

"They'll both be okay, but it was a close call. It took a lot out of us and we still weren't able to heal them completely," Adrian replied when all we got from Lissa were broken sobs. I rested my hand on her back.

"Can I see him?" A little voice came from the doorway. Jill. Her eyes were red-rimmed and she could barely talk through the sobs. Adrian nodded and she ran to her boyfriend's side. Sydney embraced him, a look of total relief in her eyes. I didn't see what she had to be so relieved about and it took everything I had not to snap at her.

We gave Adrian and Sydney the other spare bedroom which left the floor and couches for Dimitri, Mia, and me. I couldn't sleep. I wouldn't let Lissa heal me until she got some rest and the constant ache made getting any sort of rest impossible. I sat on my computer and wrote an e-mail to my dear friend in Vegas:

_Wherever you got your so-called information was shit! All five of us were nearly killed today __and if I find out it was your fault your going to have a hell of a lot more to worry about than founding your mom's killer. I will find you. You had better have one damn good excuse, Thomas. _

Straight and to the point. I would wait until he replied but I knew there was something wrong about this whole situation. And if I was right we had a bigger problem than faulty information. If I was right Thomas was working for Strigoi.

I then read a letter from my mother. She's kind of in charge. If there is a really big threat and we need back-up we call up Janine Hathaway and she orders us around until we get where we need to go. She's in Brazil right now—they're was another big attack on a school there just a few months ago. I missed her and e-mails never really do justice to the real thing. I wanted to see her, but getting her ideas on what had happened today would have to do. Maybe she would know what was going on in Vegas and if my suspicions were correct. At the end of the e-mail I asked her what she thought of being a grandmother, even with all this crazy it was still nagging at me. I needed some motherly advice.

I also had an e-mail from Abe that I decided to ignore for the night. If he really needed something he would just pop up, he does all the time.


End file.
